A process for manufacturing a bearing shell for a ball-and-socket joint is known from DE 41 08 219 C2. DE 41 08 219 C2 describes a two-component process, in which a sliding layer is first applied to a joint ball. In another operation, which is especially suitable therefor, another layer, consisting of braided fibers, is applied to this layer. The ball pivot thus coated twice is then inserted into a mounting device, which is then inserted into the housing of the ball-and-socket joint. The two-component plastic is injected, so that it will embed in it the braided fibers that are in contact with the surface of the joint ball and form a bearing shell in this combination after the cooling. Preassembly of the beaded edge of the bellows in the housing is additionally necessary in this process prior to the injection of the plastic. After the curing of the plastic, the ball-and-socket joint is removed from the device and closed with a cover. The drawback of this process is the considerable assembly effort, as a result of which the manufacture is time-consuming, expensive and prone to errors. The separate operation necessary for applying the braided fibers also causes additional costs.
Bearing shells for ball-and-socket joints especially for motor vehicles are known, furthermore, from DE 296 17 276 U 1. DE 296 17 276 U 1 discloses a ball-and-socket joint injection molded according to a one-component process, in which the bearing shell is made of a plastic according to the injection molding technique. The problem arising from this design in practice is that when a relatively favorable plastic is used, this plastic is either tribologically well suited in the nonreinforced form but it lacks sufficient strength, or it has good strength properties only if it has a fiber reinforcement. However, the plastic loses its good tribological properties due to the fiber reinforcement. A material with good mechanical and at the same time tribological material properties could offer a remedy, but such a material is very expensive.